The U.S. Army Is Using Virtual Reality Combat to Train Soldiers

This new VR combat system could significantly change how the U.S army trains its soldiers. ¦ K_E_N / Shutterstock.com

In a further development of its virtual reality combat training platform, the U.S military is adding a complex AI system to add enemy combatants to training scenarios.

The United States military has constructed a giant virtual reality combat system filled with million of AI agents to virtually train its soldiers.

Back in April 2018, the U.S. Army published a whitepaper describing its ability to simulate cities in the U.S. and North Korea. At the time, several tech enthusiasts speculated the possibility of a Synthetic Training Environment. But, the speculations were never confirmed, until now.

In an interview with Digital Trends, the software developers that contributed to the project discussed their work, and how it can help create a combat-ready and versatile military.

Using VR To Create A Global Battlefield

The United States military had one goal in mind when they created the VR platform, and it was to simulate anywhere on earth. That way, soldiers can prepare for terrains that they could one day fight before shipping out.

“This would enable the Army to conduct virtual training and complex simulations anywhere on a virtual representation of the Earth.”

According to Morrison, the STE will depend on cloud technology to deliver training to any location. As a result, the users – in this case, the U.S. military – would enjoy a common and high-fidelity global terrain representation for various simulation systems.

But, what’s a VR environment without a little population, right?

Now, the Army is reportedly scaling up the simulation to include millions of intelligent entities – more than the population in Vermont. Think of it as a type of Grand Theft Auto (GTA) VR, but for the military.

Virtual Reality Combat: How it Works

Since a specific AI layer allows the intelligent entities to act on their own accord, no two training scenarios will be the same.

Also, the software can interact with the existing simulation systems at the DOD, which is necessary for infantry to practice in a shared world. In the end, the VR environment can gradually but firmly establish the spirit of teamwork in a high-pressure circumstance.

Finally, software engineers can easily update the Synthetic Training Environment to reflect new locations. So, instead of seeing a place as it was when the software was developed, a user would see the recent changes.